Try a Smaller Horse
by Keindra
Summary: Eomer hesitently agrees to giving Lothiriel riding lessons, but what happens when she chooses the biggest stallion in the stable? Entry for Countries United


A short Eomer/Lothiriel story. Yey!

Disclaimer: Tis not mine.

---

Eomer sighed in defeat as his far-too-enthusiastic wife dragged him from his private chambers. What was wrong with the woman? The sun had not yet entered the sky! He had already tried the highly successful Pretend-You-Are-Still-Asleep, along with the I'm-Too-Tired, and the procrastinator's personal favourite, the I-Promise-I-Will-Tomorrow. All of that, and he had only got one extra morning. That top-notch material should have at least lasted for three! The sun had not even passed over the horizon yet. He sighed again, still grumbling about far too early mornings as he straightened his tunic and tried not to stumble as he followed his wife to the stables.

"Good morning, my lord, my lady," exclaimed a young stable hand, leaning on the low stone wall and smiling at the King and Queen. "Looks to be a beautiful day."

"Mrrmph..." muttered the King. It was the best they were going to get out of him for a while yet. Lothiriel on the other hand smiled brightly at him.

"Good morning, my good sir," she answered chirpily. "If you would be as kind as to accompany us down to the stables, it would be greatly appreciated." The young man nodded, trying to hide his mirth at finding the King in this state.

Eomer's ears blocked the voices out, as his feet automatically followed the tug on his hand.

"Mumble...mumble...mumble"

He yawned very loudly and theatrically, watching his wife from the corner of his eye. She ignored him.

"Mumble...Firefoot...mumble."

"W...What?!" Eomer gathered his senses together in a hurry. His wife gave him a glare.

"Sorry, I mean...pardon?" The stable hand muffed a snigger.

"I was just thinking of taking Firefoot as my steed, dear. He seems like a wonderful horse."

Eomer looked down the length of the stable where the proud stallion stood watching them curiously. In the stall next to him Azaroth, another of Eomer's strongest stallions, made a loud snickering sound. Eomer cursed very, _very_ softly before turning to face Lothiriel.

"I'm not too sure that Firefoot would be...erm...may I suggest...a smaller horse..." His voice quickly trailed off at the glower he was receiving.

"...Or not..." he finished, glancing uneasily at Firefoot. His wife threw him a great smile at those last words and almost skipped over to Firefoot's stall.

"I wouldn't go near," he said quickly. "He can get into a great temper when..." He stopped, looking rather foolish. Lothiriel stood stroking the great horse's nose with an adorable grin on her face. Firefoot was nuzzling her shoulder, lapping up the attention. Eomer came to stand next to her.

"Traitor," he muttered to Firefoot. The horse replied with a little whinny and a smug grin. Eomer slipped him a piece of apple from his riding jacket.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked finally. Lothiriel just nodded, a huge sappy smile on her face, while Eomer's turned into a slight grimace. "I guess we are leaving then."

---

Eomer gently lifted Lothiriel up and into the saddle just as the sun crept warily into the sky. Edoras was slowly becoming more busy as its townsfolk began running their errands along the narrow streets. Guiding Firefoot by the reins, Eomer walked down among his people towards the wall at the bottom of the hill. Many of the adults bowed their heads to the King and his Queen, while their younger children whispered and pointed before beaming innocently at them. When they got to the gate, Eomer halted and one of the guards looked nervously at him before coming forward to speak. Since Theodred had died and the King and the next heir had left to fight at the Pelennor Fields, the people were very wary of their royalty.

"Do you wish for an escort, my lord?" one of the guards asked. Eomer laughed quietly and pulled the guard aside.

"An escort will not be necessary Roryn, but if we are not back before the sun reaches its zenith, send out a search party. I have seen my wife's skill with horses and it will be unlikely if we come back in the same amount of pieces as we started."

Roryn gave a quick chuckle and faced Eomer.

"I will do, my lord." He replied, amusement present in his voice. "Enjoy your excursion."

Eomer turned back to Firefoot and Lothiriel. Firefoot was, in his opinion, too large for Lothiriel, so he swung up behind her. Gently holding onto his wife round the waist, he lightly dug his heels into Firefoot's flank just as Roryn opened the gate. With a thud of hooves, they were away, galloping on the rolling plains with the sunrise before them.

The wind in his face woke him up properly as the adrenalin of speed built up in him. He could feel Lothiriel tense beside him and murmuring.

"I don't like this....I _really _don't like this."

Eomer laughed and tugged on the reins a little, signaling Firefoot to slow down. Gradually he slowed to a walk and both of the riders on his back savoured the moment of this flawless morning. They continued out into the plain for a while, just breathing the clean air in silence. Without any real intention, Firefoot gradually began to make his way towards a small grove he and Eomer had been to before. There was wonderful fresh grass there.

---

"So, gently dig in with your heels and slacken off the reins to make him go faster, alright?"

Lothiriel nodded, slightly in awe of holding power over the great beast beneath her. She slackened off the reins and gently pressed her heels into Firefoot's side and he immediately reacted, bursting into a canter and reveling in the freedom he was being given. Lothiriel gave a tight squeal and clung on tightly, unconsciously pressing in harder. Firefoot neighed loudly and thundered away, tossing his mane as if trying to impress the hills with his expertise. Suddenly there was a loud shout behind him and he tried to turn while skidding to a halt. Almost in slow motion, Eomer watched as his wife's light form was flung sideways off her steed's back. Fear building up in him, he sprinted over to her side.

"Mrrrmph..." Lothiriel moaned. She pushed herself onto her knees as she felt a strong hand on her back. Luckily she had conveniently fallen in a patch of springy heather and was not badly injured, but she knew she would have a bruise in the morning.

"It must be bad," Eomer muttered in relief, seeing Lothiriel was all right. "You sound worse than me in the morning." Lothiriel let out a weak laugh.

"Come on, I know a place near here, we can stay as long as you need."

Eomer tenderly picked up Lothiriel in his arms and carried her over to a small thicket of trees about a hundred yards away. Through the green/golden light filtering through the trees, she saw a small clear pool and a large low branching tree sitting on the bank next to it. Eomer gently lay her down in his lap as Firefoot began happily munching on some grass nearby.

"Where does it hurt?" Eomer asked, looking down at his wife. Lothiriel was sorely tempted to answer with 'everywhere' but settled with just "my shoulder."

She gritted her teeth as Eomer soothingly began massaging her upper arm. Gradually she relaxed and lay back into him as his powerful hands skillfully relaxed her aching muscles. After a while she opened her eyes and smiled at the man above her.

"You know," she said toying with his golden hair. "I wouldn't really mind if we finished all riding lessons like this."

Eomer smiled and gave her a light kiss. "But perhaps without the fall."

"Maybe I should try a slightly smaller horse next time."

He couldn't believe how relieved he felt when he heard those words. He looked over at Firefoot, who met his eye for a moment before giving something that was halfway between a snicker and a whinny and turned back to his grass.

"Maybe you should, but we can leave that for another day." Eomer helped Lothiriel to her feet and led her over to Firefoot. Presently they were back in the saddle and heading back to Edoras at a slow trot. They could see the glimmer of Meduseld in the distance, shining gold in the noon sun.

"Maybe, just maybe," said Lothiriel with a smirk, "I can try Azaroth."


End file.
